Friday, September 26, 2008

And here in New York, police are admitting at least partial fault in the death of a mentally handicapped man who fell from a building after he was tasered. Thirty-five-year-old Inman Morales was standing naked on a ledge when police confronted him to try to bring him down. Police say they had called for an inflatable bag to break Morales’s fall. But it had not arrived before an officer struck him with the taser weapon, sending him plunging to his death. [...]

Instead of waiting for backup to arrive with an airbag that would have broken his fall, "an [Emergency Service Unit] lieutenant directed another ESU officer on the sidewalk to employ a [taser] against Morales, who fell to the sidewalk, striking his head," Browne said.

Morales, 35, fell 10 feet and landed headfirst on the pavement. He was declared dead at Kings County Hospital.

"It just wasn't a smart move. When you Taser someone, they drop like a stone. No muscle control. Under regular circumstances, the (suspect) could have jumped himself and been OK," a police source said.

Indeed, not a smart move. Hell, this NY police officer is smarter than I thought.